The Christian belief that Jesus is the only way to salvation
is deeply rooted in the Bible, which claims this idea in a variety of ways,
including
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. In John 14:6,
Jesus makes the definitive statement:
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father, except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father
also.
Those aren’t the words of someone who intended to be a moral
compass or role model for followers of God. His claim encompassed everything of
importance in all of life – he is the only route to God, the lone source of
truth, and the exclusive means for obtaining eternal life.
Jesus is the front man for God. The Bible calls Jesus the “image
of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15) and the only one who has ever seen God
the Father (John 1:18).
Jesus is the lone mediator between God and humans. Although Christians
believe that God wants everyone to be saved, Paul makes it clear that this
salvation only comes from one source – Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, “For
there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself as a ransom for all.”
No alternative routes are available. Peter dismisses the
possibility of other roads to God in Acts 4:12: “There is salvation in none
other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among
men, by which we must be saved!”
Jesus is the sheep’s door. Jesus compares himself to a sheep’s
door in John 10:7-9, differentiating between himself and everyone who came
before him: “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door. All who came
before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am
the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go
out, and will find pasture.”
See Chapter 5 for more of the claims that Jesus made about
himself as the one and only way to God.
The Christian claim that Jesus is the only way to reach God
and experience salvation isn’t a matter of arrogance. Instead, to the
Christian, salvation simply doesn’t make sense if Jesus isn’t the sole means to
God. As Chapter 3 describes, Christianity says that people only receive salvation
from God because of the sacrifice that Jesus made by dying on the cross. This sacrifice
wasn’t an optional exercise that God did just to show his love. He did it out
of necessity.
Accounting for people who’ve never heard of Jesus
Because Christianity plainly states that Jesus is the only
way to salvation, the logical follow-on question is: What about those people
who’ve never heard of him? Are the natives in the jungles of Borneo, for example,
doomed to hell for being unfortunate enough not to have lived in a place where
they could’ve heard of the Christian gospel?
The Bible says that no one can claim ignorance as an excuse
(see Chapter 8). Paul alludes to the fact that people intuitively know the
existence of God by what’s around them. In Romans 1:20, he says:
For the invisible things of him since the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even
his everlasting power and divinity; that everyone is without excuse.
Creation in some way testifies as to who God is. So, even
though a person may not know the name of Jesus Christ, he or she can know God
and, therefore, is considered without excuse. The problem, Paul continues, is
that people have denied what they know to be true. According to Romans 1:21, “Because,
knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became
vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.”
If no one can claim ignorance as an excuse, what does this
mean for the natives of Borneo? Because the Bible is largely silent about this
issue, Christians are left to speculate on exactly how God deals with people
who’ve never heard the gospel. The Christian Church holds two major
perspectives on this issue. Some Christians believe that salvation requires
explicit knowledge of Jesus Christ, while others believe that God, in her
mercy, makes some allowances for people who haven’t heard the gospel. Check out
the two views in more detail:
Nothing saves humans apart from an understanding of the
gospel message of Jesus Christ. Therefore, you must have explicit knowledge of
the Good News of Jesus Christ in order to be saved. Unless you have consciously
believed in Jesus Christ and his saving work, then you’ve rejected him, whether
purposefully or not. St. Augustine (see Chapter 18) and John Calvin (see
Chapters 11 and 18) held this position, as do many within the Church today.
Knowledge of Jesus is critical, but some middle ground is
possible. In other words, people are saved if they respond to God based on the
information available to them. In this scenario, Jesus Christ does the saving,
but he makes allowances for people who’ve not heard of him specifically. Within
this perspective, Christians have varying positions, such as
If any person desires God’s favour, he will be saved by
Christ even if he doesn’t realize how it’s all done.
If any person desires to know God, an opportunity will
present itself to her sometime during her life. Many people argue that God will
send a messenger (perhaps a human or even an angel) to someone who really wants
to know about him.
God speaks to people’s hearts and reveals what’s needed to receive
saving grace, causing everyone to have an opportunity to accept or reject
Christ.
People including Justin Martyr (an early Church father),
author C.S. Lewis, Thomas Aquinas (see Chapter 18), and John Wesley (see Chapters
11 and 18) have held various forms of this viewpoint.
For some reason, God deliberately decided not to show his
cards on this issue and left it an open question. Many Christians believe that
the reason must be that God wants people to trust him on this issue and to work
hard to reach all parts of the world with his Good News. However, because God
is all-loving and completely fair, Christians have the assurance that his
response to the natives in Borneo will be consistent with who he is.
Jesus, however, does warn people not to dwell
too much on these what-if scenarios. When a disciple asked Jesus how many
people would be saved, Jesus replied, “Strive to enter in by the narrow door,
for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able” (Luke
13:24). In other words, Jesus was saying to mind your own business, making sure
that you focus on your salvation and let him deal with the people who’ve never
heard. Obviously, in light of the Great Commission (see Chapter 19), Jesus wasn’t
telling Christians to keep to themselves and forget about others. Instead, he was
making it clear that God is the one who deals with each person’s eternal fate,
not other people’s speculation.
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